For Monty
by TobiasHawk1
Summary: Most of this was written Sunday, January 31st, the day before we heard about Monty Oum's passing. It was supposed to be a lighthearted fic about Ren (voiced by Monty) eventually being okay. While that's unfortunately not what happened, I needed to know that these characters Monty created would be okay. I hope he finds peace.


_Guys! Come quick! Renny's hurt! It's so bad!_

It'd been less than twenty minutes before worried friends started to arrive at Vale Memorial Hospital to answer Nora's frantic group message.

Team RWBY had been the first to the hospital. Yang had plopped Weiss right on Bumblebee's handlebars, wrapped Blake's arms around her waist and revved the engine. It hadn't been hard to find a pace Ruby could match with her speed semblance. Even Zwei had managed to stow away in Ruby's backpack as the girls made it through the doors of the crowded hospital, not even letting out a bark until they'd made it to the quiet waiting room. Yang and Ruby were the first to wrap their arms around their friend. Nora looked so sad and alone. It was a rare occurrence for Nora to not be accompanied by Ren, and the news was devastating.

The rest of Team JNPR arrived next. Jaune and Pyrrha came to find their eternally cheerful roommate sobbing into her hands as the sisters tried to comfort her.

"Nora? Oh, gosh…" Pyrrha didn't know what to say. What could she even behind to say that would comfort her teammate?

"Is he… okay?" Jaune's voice was shaky, but he made sure to keep strong for his friends. He'd always seen Ren as a brother- one of the only other males his age in his predominantly female group of friends and family. To think of Ren… hurt…

Ren and Nora had signed off to go on a mission together. It wasn't supposed to be difficult or dangerous, just a trip for some more Forever Fall tree sap. They'd been gone for about three hours when Nora sent the text.

"I dunno, Jaune… she can't say…" Yang held the smaller girl tighter in her arms. Yang was good with comforting friends; she'd spent her entire childhood being a mother to Ruby when her sister had needed one most. The least she could do was offer some of that affection to the girl who'd gotten her closer to the moon than she'd ever thought she'd get in her life.

"It's… it's so bad…" Nora managed to choke out in between sobs. "It's- I'm a terrible… friend…" Watery, turquoise eyes were draining rivers of salty tears down her round, pale cheeks. She tried to wipe them away- to stay strong in front of her friends- but she never was really good at hiding her emotions.

"Oh, dear…" Pyrrha sat down in front of the smaller girl, emerald eyes wide with hurt. She placed her head in Nora's lap and hummed softly, gently stroking her teammate's calfs. She just wanted to touch her. Hold her. Tell her everything would be okay. It was the only thing she could do.

The small group had underestimated just how many people Nora kept in contact with. Team CFVY trailed in about seven minutes after Jaune and Pyrrha. The upperclassmen had brought chocolate, flowers, and a giant "Get Well Soon" card everyone could sign. Fox's signature was already signed in Coco's neat handwriting.

"Ren's the kid with the pink streak in his hair? No way he's hurt bad. I've seen that fucker dance-"

"Coco," Velvet hissed softly as she nudged her teammate. Her leader always had a hard time filtering out her vulgarity in front of children.

"Sorry. I… he's gonna pull through, okay? I know it. He's got talent and skill and he's a fighter, just like the rest of us. He's gonna make it…" She lifted her sunglasses to look Nora in the eye. She was serious. It didn't matter if she had to move ocean and sky herself in order to make sure Ren made it out with his life, she'd do it.

"Here… we brought you guys some coffee for the wait." Fox and his teammates handed out their school-famous blend. The busy students only prepared it for special occasions and at a high price, but Nora deserved a taste now more than ever.

"Th- thanks, guys." Nora gladly accepted her mug from Yatsuhashi. The huge teen was forced to duck low in the small waiting room, but still didn't mind giving Nora a respectful bow.

Team SSSN came in pairs. Sun and Neptune were a panting mess as they pushed through the swinging double doors into the waiting room. "Is he okay," they asked in unison. Neither knew how to comfort Nora, but Neptune tried his best, offering small talk and short stories to try and distract his friends from the gravity of the situation. Sun dropped to the floor and occupied himself with push-ups.

"It helps me think," he explained hurriedly.

Sage and Scarlet had been a bit quieter with their entrance, quickly taking the last empty seats near the quickly growing group of friends.

No one was entirely sure about what to do or say and the atmosphere in the room weighed on them all. Ignorant of the extent of Ren's injuries, all they could do was hope for good news.

Everyone was so worried, no one noticed when Team CRDL walk in. Despite having bullied Jaune and Velvet throughout their first semester at Beacon, they felt this was their only opportunity to apologize for their behavior. Nora hadn't even realized she'd accidentally added Sky to the list of contacts the text was sent to, but between so many "S" names in team SSSN, she wasn't surprised she'd made the mistake.

"Look… guys… we just wanted to say we're sorry for being jerks." Cardin handed Nora a large, stuffed Ursa. "His name is Monty. I thought you might… you know…"

Nora looked up to the armored boy and nodded gratefully. She gripped the stuffed Grimm tightly and was wracked with another bout of sobs. They shook her small body like earthquakes, and it was all Yang could do to hold her.

"It's m- my fault he's hurt… it's all my fault… I-"

"Nora…" Pyrrha stopped her with a firm hand on her knee. "This isn't your fault. I can't promise Ren will be okay, but I know for certain he wouldn't want you to destroy yourself with grief. Please…"

"And we're all here for him. As soon as those doctors give us the okay, we'll go in there and surprise him. All of us. He'll be so happy to see us." Ruby's constantly optimistic outlook brightened up the room. Her innocence was refreshing during such a terrifying situation. It lifted everyone's spirits for a short while.

"Okay…" Nora buried her face in Yang's chest and gripped Monty tighter in her arms. She wanted to shut herself away from the world. Memories of Ren she held most dear flooded her mind.

No one really expected the Professors to show up. Nora was certain they'd only come because Penny had demanded it of General Ironwood. Professor Goodwitch and Dr. Oobleck came with food prepared from Beacon's cafeteria and made plates for the hungry teenagers. "Do you think they're going to be alright? If… he doesn't…?" Professor Goodwitch's outlook may have been a little cynical, but she cared about her students as if they were her own children, and she felt it necessary to prepare them for the worst.

"Glynda… I think a little optimism during trying times such as these never hurt anyone…" The expressionless professor took a large sip of CFVY's coffee, the forced grip on his mug the only thing betraying the smallest emotion.

"They can't escape the reality of this life forever, Ozpin." General Ironwood's voice was like an oppressive blanket over his peers. He was right, of course. They'd all lost friends and colleagues to the dangers of their profession. Expecting that this new generation of Hunters would be exempt of the losses their ancestors had been claimed by was worthless false hope.

"I have faith in the capabilities of my students, James." Again, the headmaster punctuated his sentence with a sip of his coffee. His words sounded final and left no room for argument.

A group of three students were the last to file into the small waiting room. Blake, Scarlet and Coco stared down the thin girl with raven hair and golden eyes. They'd seen her before around campus and couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with her presence. She had a way of making people itch with the swish of her hips and clack of her heels, drawing all eyes to her like some hypnotist.

"That's the girl I met in the hallway," Ruby whispered to Weiss. It was hard to forget the smell of burning spices that followed the woman wherever she went. Behind her was a tall, shaggy haired boy with shiny greaves and messy collar, and a girl with skin as dark as rich chocolate and eyes as red and bright as cherries. Everyone held their breath as the trio walked into the waiting room and made their way through the large group of students and teachers.

"I'm sorry." Cinder's voice was smooth and sultry, but amazingly sincere. She took Nora's chin in her hand and tilted the smaller girl's face up to meet her eyes. "Good friends are hard to come by."

"I know…" Nora wiped fresh tears from her eyes and held Monty the Ursa a little tighter.

The three pulled away, Mercury joining Yatsuhashi and Sage at the table to grab a bite to eat. Emerald opened up her Scroll and sat next to Blake, reading an e-book to try and fill the oppressive silence. Cinder busied herself by filing her nails near Weiss and Zwei.

The group waited.

And waited.

Minutes seemed to stretch as long as hours as they waited for news. _Any_ news. Ruby and Penny tried offering Nora a plate of food, but the girl refused.

"I'm not hungry," she said softly, shaking her head. "I'll save it for Renny."

An hour passed before Cardin's pacing had begun to wear at the patience of a few members of the group. He looked to Jaune, Ruby, Sun and Coco, fellow leaders for help.

"What do we have to do? How long do these things take?!" He ran his hands through his hair, never slowing his pace as he walked around the room.

"Often surgeries can last several hours, usually averaging between three to five. Operations requiring eight or more hours aren't entirely uncommon." Penny's encyclopedic knowledge caught up with her as she finished her sentence. _They'd only been waiting an hour!_

"Why do you care? Do you have somewhere better to be," Weiss asked harshly. The stress was getting to everyone and it was easy to lash out at their former enemy.

"No," Cardin sighed softly. "I just want him to be okay. So we can go back to normal."

Normal sounded good. Normal meant everyone would be fine. Normal meant Ren would be okay.

Nora buried her face in the bear and hummed even louder, trying to drown out the silence. Yang's arms were warm, but she needed more than that. She needed to know her oldest, best friend in the whole wide world would be okay.

"I never even got to tell him how much I love him," she whispered silently. Pyrrha and Yang heard her whimpered plea and looked to one another, entirely lost on what to say.

"Don't worry, Nora. When Ren walks out of that room, you can tell him. I promise. Okay?" Ruby gave her friend the widest, most meaningful smile she could manage.

"Tell Ren what?"

The soft, level voice brought everyone's eyes to the young man standing in the doorway in a bright, white hospital gown. Fuchsia eyes burned curiously as he looked around the room, seeing friends and classmates alike.

"_RENNY_," Nora jumped up in excitement and ran into his arms. She hugged him tightly, wrapping herself around his waist.

"Ren? You're… okay?" Jaune looked to his teammate entirely confused. Ren was walking. Talking. He seemed fine! This wasn't at all what he's been expecting.

"Um, yeah. I broke my arm. I needed x-rays and a cast. Why's everyone here?" He'd assumed his teammates would be there, maybe even Team RWBY, but nearly thirty people filled the small waiting area with chocolates and food and balloons. Almost as if they'd been expecting something much more dire. "Nora? What did you tell them?"

"Um… I told them that you'd been hurt. And to come to the hospital…"

"You didn't… tell them I'd tripped collecting sap, did you?" Ren held his arm against his body, trying to take the weight of the cast off his shoulder.

"No, I just… I was just so worried…" Nora buried her face in Ren's chest.

"Well… I'm glad you're okay," Jaune said softly.

"I think this calls for a group hug," Yang chuckled. It was over. They could laugh again!

"Watch the arm!"

Dozens of students embraced the two friends in the middle. Dozens of personalities came together as a family, desperately clinging to a friend they'd thought they'd lost.

He was okay.

All was well.


End file.
